The most powerful person in the global economy

"The most powerful person will soon be the president of the European Central Bank, the Italian banker Mario Draghi. In the last few weeks, we have seen an extraordinary expansion of the European Central Bank’s powers. It can now set interest rates, control financial markets, and effectively dictate tax and spending policies across what remains — despite its current difficulties — the world’s largest single economic bloc. But history suggests that when you concentrate too much power in a single pair of hands, and even worse when the person who wields that power is not limited by any form of accountability, the results are catastrophic." Continue reading

Continue ReadingThe most powerful person in the global economy

Soros Ex-Wife Lists Apartment for $50 Million

"Susan Weber Soros, the former wife of the billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros, has listed her elegantly appointed 10-room apartment at the Majestic, the soaring dual-towered Art Deco co-op at 115 Central Park West, for $50 million. It is being offered fully furnished — Ms. Soros is downsizing and making a clean break — and the price includes a separate one-bedroom one-bath unit for staff. Ms. Soros bought the apartment for $25 million in an under-the-radar transaction in 2006, a year after her two-decade marriage to Mr. Soros ended in divorce." Continue reading

Continue ReadingSoros Ex-Wife Lists Apartment for $50 Million

Chicago cop: No memory of bartender beating, 110 phone calls

"Abbate says he doesn't remember much about the February 2007 night he was caught on videotape beating up bartender Obrycka. In the civil trial against the fired Chicago cop, Abbate testified that was 'on a mission to get totally inebriated' because he was upset his dog had just been diagnosed with cancer. Obrycka accuses Abbate and the Chicago Police Department of trying to cover up and downplay the beating. Obrycka's attorney Terry Ekl says the alleged cover-up was evident by the more than 110 phone calls Abbate made within 24 hours after the beating. Abbate said the calls were nothing more than 'drunk dialing.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingChicago cop: No memory of bartender beating, 110 phone calls

Video Shows San Antonio Police Beating Pregnant Woman

"Did San Antonio Police Officers use excessive force on a pregnant woman? That's what the Department is looking into tonight, after a Fox San Antonio viewer shot video of three officers holding down a pregnant woman. One of those officers hits her repeatedly. According to a police report, 21-year-old Destiny Rios was arrested for prostitution and resisting arrest. 'Whether it was four or five or whether it was 8, it's really irrelevant if the officer felt he needed to strike her 8 times in order to get her to comply and put handcuffs on, then that's how many times he struck her,' said Chief William McManus, San Antonio Police." Continue reading

Continue ReadingVideo Shows San Antonio Police Beating Pregnant Woman

Police group receives donation from Taser stun-gun maker

"The nation's largest association of police chiefs, which has advised thousands of its members on the appropriate use of stun guns, accepted a $300,000 donation from the foundation associated with Taser International, the biggest supplier of stun guns to law enforcement. The contribution to the International Association of Chiefs of Police Foundation (IACP), the organization's philanthropic arm, represents the latest in a series of controversial relationships Taser has established with police, the primary source of the Arizona-based company's lucrative business." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPolice group receives donation from Taser stun-gun maker

Bruce Jessen: The Torturer in the Pulpit

"John Kiriakou's supposed offense – for which he was originally charged under the 1917 Espionage Act, which provides for the death penalty – was to speak critically of the torture program and identify one of the officials involved in it. Kiriakou, one of six officials being prosecuted by the Obama administration for 'leaking' information about the government’s crimes, accepted a plea bargain because he has five children. That fact, to use Jessen’s terminology, made him 'exploitable.' Accordingly, while the architect of the torture program, Bruce Jessen, will now hold forth from a Mormon pulpit, a whistleblower will spend at least 2 1/2 years in prison." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBruce Jessen: The Torturer in the Pulpit

Glenn Greenwald: Obama moves to make the War on Terror permanent

"What has been created here - permanently institutionalized - is a highly secretive executive branch agency that simultaneously engages in two functions: (1) it collects and analyzes massive amounts of surveillance data about all Americans without any judicial review let alone search warrants, and (2) creates and implements a 'matrix' that determines the 'disposition' of suspects, up to and including execution, without a whiff of due process or oversight. It is simultaneously a surveillance state and a secretive, unaccountable judicial body that analyzes who you are and then decrees what should be done with you, how you should be 'disposed' of." Continue reading

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Obama moves to make the War on Terror permanent

Whitaker police officer charged over threats to motorist

"A part-time Whitaker police officer was charged on Friday with official oppression, attempted extortion and related crimes after being accused of using his gun to break a female motorist’s window and threatening to send her to jail if she did not admit responsibility and pay for the damage. Willliam S. Davis, 35, was charged by investigators from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office after an investigation surrounding events that occurred about 9 p.m. June 27, when Davis was in plainclothes and riding in an unmarked police vehicle." Continue reading

Continue ReadingWhitaker police officer charged over threats to motorist

NYPD paid marijuana arrestee to ‘bait’ Muslims and spy on mosques

"Shamiur Rahman told The Associated Press that he agreed to take on the role of informant in January because he believed that several misdemeanor arrests for marijuana would result in serious legal consequences. Over the course of the year, Rahman said he spied on mosques, Muslim businesses, and Muslim student groups. He took video and photos of worshippers, recorded license plate numbers and eavesdropped on imams. NYPD Assistant Chief Thomas Galati testified earlier this year that a program to infiltrate and monitor Muslim communities had not generated a single lead or terrorism investigation." Continue reading

Continue ReadingNYPD paid marijuana arrestee to ‘bait’ Muslims and spy on mosques

McAlester police officer charged with a felony in tasing of handcuffed woman

"According to court records, Williams was given a 10-year suspended sentence for felony assault and battery on a police officer, public intoxication and expectorating on a police officer. She said she has scars on her hands from the handcuffs and on her chest from the probes being pulled out by another police officer. An MPD 'Use of Force Report' written by Taylor after the incident and signed by MPD Capt. David Bailey states: 'Subject had spit on officer and was fixing to spit on officer again force was used to stop action.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingMcAlester police officer charged with a felony in tasing of handcuffed woman